The day of surgery, I was asked to be at the hospital at 9:45 AM for an 11:30 AM procedure. My father, bless his heart, worked the night before and still brought me to the hospital, waited during the procedure and met me afterwards (as much as I remember, anyway). We got to St. Clare's Hospital in Dover at 9:50 (hit a little traffic) and I checked in and was almost immediately brought back to the surgical prep area. The nurses were all lovely and, after I derobed and put on the 1/2 gown that allegedly ties in the back (nobody ever found the ties), walked me through all the paperwork and formalities and hooked me up to my IV's. My Dad came back after all this to wish me luck and then I was quickly ushered down a hallway into the pre-surgical waiting area.
A short note: As they were wheeling me down the corridor, for about 5-10 seconds, it seemed like there were no lights on in the hallway...it was like I was being wheeled into the "closed wing" of a hospital for an experimental procedure. I actually cracked a joke about it and the nurse who was pushing my bed chuckled and said that they joke about that, too. Don't know if I was relieved or more scared when I heard that.
Anyway, so another few minutes goes by and I meet with the anesthesiologist, who was really odd who gave me his 30-second schpiel and then my surgeon came up to me. He goes, "are you ready?" and I was like...no...I actually like the anticipation so much I want to wait like 10 minutes. He laughed and informed me that we were 30-minutes ahead of schedule. So, off we went. I get into the operating room and they ask me to move over to the operating table. They situate me and give me the first of two drugs, which made me woozy but didn't knock me out. As I was used to getting one shot and "night night", I inquired as to whether it was normal that I just felt a little woozy and not asleep...the anesthesiologist said yes and that he hadn't administered the other drug yet that would put me out. They did some more prep stuff as I got "comfortable" and then he said...ok, ready to sleep. I said yes, he injected me and I had just enough time to tell the staff in the OR "thank you in advance" and off to sleep I went.
When I woke up, I was being wheeled into my room. The surgery had gone about 1hr 45min and I was out for an additional 2 hours, so by the time I got to my room, it was about 2:30 PM (as best I can recall). I was groggy and somewhat out of it, but I know my father was there and I think my surgeon came in, but I can't be sure. I was told about the morphine pump that I was hooked up to for pain and how it worked. After that, I think I dosed myself once and went to sleep. My father left right before I passed out, as I told him I wasn't going to me much used to him any more and he had to go back to work soon anyway. I then passed out and woke up several hours later (Criminal Minds was already on, so it had to be like 8:30 PM or so). I was in a tremendous amount of pain, so I pressed the morphine button and it quickly dulled out everything, but really kept me sleepy.
During the surgery, they put CO2 gas in your abdominal cavity to create room to work. The procedure consists of first dissecting the stomach into two pieces, the part that you will use, which is about the size of an egg, and the rest, which is not to be used anymore. Then, a part of the intestines is re-routed and connected to the new "stoma" or pouch and that section by-passes a section of the colon that is responsible for the absorbtion of fats and nutrients (your body can still absorb some through another section lower in the colon, but the main absorber is by-passed, thus giving the surgery its name. Anyway, the gas doesn't just disappear after surgery. Your body has to absorb it and then pass it, which is a painful process. Some equate the pains to thinking they are having a heart attack. When it shoots up to your shoulder, you can think that. However, I felt more like I had a large hunting knife jabbed into me and twisted in several different places, so the pain is real. When I first got to my room, by blood pressure was 250/180 from the pain...it calmed down once I took the morphine and they gave me an injection of blood pressure meds (HCTZ).
Also, I had a drain after surgery to remove blood from my abdomen. At first, it was supposed to come out Friday before discharge, but on Friday, the doctor came in and said there was still too much drainage, so I had to keep it until the following Monday.
During the first 24 hours, you are not permitted to eat or drink. Considering how dry my hospital room was and how dry my mouth was, that was difficult. From the second day until Sunday, I was on a clear-liquid diet consisting of broths, teas, jello and sorbet. Yum! On Sunday, I started a full liquid diet, which included dairy products.
So, on Friday, I was still in pain but the surgeon sent me home with Percocet and well wishes and I was to come back on Monday to have the drain removed. My brother picked me up at the hospital and off we went back to my Dad's house. Since I live in South Jersey, it made sense to stay up North since I had a doctor's appointment Monday. My wife had to work, so it was just easier to stay up North where there is always someone home.
Over the next two days, I was still in a tremendous amount of pain. On Sunday, I actually thought I had torn muscles in my stomach because of the sharp burning pains I had. Come to find out that the Percocet was actually causing more problems than good. Percocet is a narcotic downer. It dulls pain, but also slows muscle movement and was actually slowing down my body's ability to expel the gas, so every time I took one, the pain would go away for a few hours, but when it wore off, I was in even more pain because the gas had pooled up in an area and was creating a tremendous amount of pressure and pain. So, at that point, I switched to Tylenol Extra Strength. Funny, Tylenol has a massive recall in process making finding Tylenol very difficult. Figures.
So, Monday, I saw the surgeon and told him about my pain. He looked me over, removed the drain and informed me that the pain was normal. First, he used a long-acting Lanocane
So, today is Wednesday and I am feeling much better. I have a large hematoma on my stomach above my navel which is creating some pressure and pain, but slowly I am recovering. I am on full liquids including cream soups and so far it has been uneventful.
I was never big on sweets, so eating puddings and jell-o and the like has not sat well with me. I couldn't even eat pudding...it turned my stomach. Eating strained cream soups has been just wonderful I can enjoy real food flavors instead of just sweets. You have to try new things...if you don't like something, move on. Your tastes definitely change some after surgery, so it will take a little bit of trial and error. Things you could tolerate before surgery may not be tolerable after.
I am down to 289 lbs. I was 304 before surgery, so I have lost a total of 15 lbs. in a week. I'll be able to drive soon and get back to singing next Monday and I also have an appointment on Monday to have my staples removed (they are holding my skin together while the incision sites heal.
It's a process. Most important for me to remember was that this was MAJOR ABDOMINAL SURGERY! Just because the incisions are small, the changes inside were huge. It takes time to heal and I have to give my body time to heal. It's a struggle at times, but I am really excited and already seeing changes is really awesome! My legs, arms and face are already thinner. In two weeks, I will be 275. It's been a long time since I saw that number. The whole process is very exciting.
So, I will be back next week to give you an update. Thanks for reading.
I'm happy to hear your doing well. My mom went through this last year and found that her taste buds have changed. she can taste salt a lot easier and prefers strong, rich flavors above junk now.
ReplyDeleteJust wait until your cleared for exercise. It'll be like melting butter.